Will European clubs object?
CAF's executive committee voted unanimously today to stage the Africa Cup of Nations every two years, tearing up its previous plan to hold the tournament every four years.
Patrice Motsepe, the CAF president, had revealed at the confederation's strategic conference in Cape Verde from 7 to 9 October 2026 that the executive committee would revisit last year's decision to move AFCON to a four-year cycle.
Several factors drove that rethink. Chief among them was the realisation that the new African Nations League, a continental competition designed to replace the current AFCON and run every two years, would take several years to generate the substantial money needed to make CAF's competitions and African football globally competitive and financially self-sufficient.
Motsepe said, in CAF's official statement: "The decision of CAF's executive committee to hold the Africa Cup of Nations every two years was based on the need to promote, protect and advance the interests of African football, alongside the interests of the 54 member associations of CAF, as well as the professional African players at clubs outside the continent."
He added: "We also took into account ...